1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of dynamic memory management. In particular, the present invention relates to hardware and software methods to manage the use of dynamic memory in devices requiring low power consumption, such as battery-powered devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Battery-powered electronic devices such as digital music players and digital cameras typically require significant information storage capacity, and must maintain information during periods of time when the device is in a powered down state. Current battery-powered electronic devices address these needs with various forms of non-volatile memory, such as solid-state flash memory, hard drives, floppy disks, etc. These memory systems however, typically are either very expensive or require too much power to make them viable for inexpensive battery-powered devices. For example, hard drives and floppy disks are inexpensive on a cost per megabyte basis, but are both bulky and require large amounts of power. Flash memory is expensive, but is compact and reliable.
Volatile memory has not been considered a viable solution because of the high power consumption rate typically associated with the need for constant power to maintain information reliably.
In an effort to improve storage capacity in battery-powered devices, it is therefore desirable to provide a memory system that has a low power consumption rate and a high information storage capacity. It is furthermore desirable to have a system with a high degree of information reliability. It is furthermore desirable to have an inexpensive system for storing information reliably.